The Florida Democratic Party held its 2009 State Conference October 9-11 at Disney's Yacht and Beach Club Resort in Lake Buena Vista, Florida.
Fellow Monroe County Democrats,
Several of us attended the State Democratic Party Conference in Orlando this past weekend, and enjoyed meeting and hearing from party leaders and candidates, including Congresspeople Karen Thurman, Ron Klein, and Alan Grayson, the last as sharp and funny in person as he has been on recent talk shows. Grayson referred to the Republicans as "nattering nabobs of negativism," a nice if ironic tribute to the late William Safire, and suggested we change the names of Democrats and Republicans to "the conscience party" and "the selfish party" respectively. We also heard from Bill Nelson, Alex Sink, Kendrick Meek, and others who will be important next year. Interestingly, Sen. Nelson predicted that Obama would have a health care bill on his desk by the end of November, and that it would include some form of public option.
I want to share with you some key points we heard that underscore the importance of early and broad organizing in Monroe County:
• 2010 is the first time in 140 years that all of the statewide offices are open in Florida, with no incumbents running.
•In the past eight years Democrats have held only one statewide office (Alex Sink, as Chief Financial Officer) and have been the minority in the state legislature even though Florida registration gives Democratic voters the majority. This is the result of what was once better Republican organization and, of course, gerrymandering.
•Several speakers emphasized that statewide elections are won or lost in the small counties, including Monroe: "win the small counties, and you win," as Alex Sink's husband put it. This is very important to us, since Monroe has been a swing county over several elections. If we can organize and get out the Democratic vote, we win.
•Rep. Ron Klein reminded us that in the Republican sweep of 1994, "Republicans did not get one vote more than they did in 1992--Democrats just didn't show up." He added that "2010 is in our hands. We can elect Democrats if we organize and get out the vote."
* Franklin Sands, state house minority leader, urged us to follow their new "unofficial, uncensored" website, www.flhousedems.com. (As I think most of you know, our own Rep. Ron Saunders will follow Sands as the next state house Democratic leader.)
Finally, a few words on some key races: Alex Sink and Kendrick Meek clearly have wide state party support for their 2010 races for governor and senator respectively. Sink would be running in the general election against current state attorney general Bill McCollum, who has not held a job outside of politics, except briefly as a lobbyist, in his entire career. Meek would be running against Charlie Crist, and the sense of the conference was that he stands a real chance as Crist's popularity has started to slide. We heard from three candidates for Commissioner of Agriculture and Consumer Affairs, an important statewide office that includes consumer protection and has an impact on things such as development and oil drilling: Thad Hamilton, Rick Mitten, and Scott Maddox. Maddox was a rousing speaker who pointed out that the likely Republican in this race will be Congressman Adam Putnam, a protege of Tom Delay. The last session of the conference was a debate between two very strong candidates for attorney general, both state senators: Dave Aronberg and Dan Gelber. Whoever wins the primary will be a strong candidate for this vital state-wide office.
I look forward to working with you all, toward a Democratic year in Florida in 2010!
Susanne
IMAGES FROM THE 2009 CONFERENCE
Orlando's Jones High School Marching Band opened the ceremonies!
Monroe County DEC members Susanne Woods and Anne Shaver helping to represent the Florida Keys
Senator Bill Nelson
Congressman Alan Grayson
Stuart Milk - Nephew of the late Harvey Milk
Scott Maddox - Candidate for Florida Commissioner of Agriculture
State Representative Ron Saunders
Incoming Minority Leader of the Florida House of Representatives
Monroe County State Committeewoman Pam Martin and DEC's Phil Schaeffer discussing the Public Option with Senator Bill Nelson
Monroe County DEC Secretary Amy Margalli and Representative Kendrick Meeks - Candidate for United States Senate
DEC Treasurer Kimberly Sloan and Secretary Margalli with Alex Sink - Candidate for Governor
Representative Ron Saunders with Monroe County DEC delegates Phil Schaeffer and Pam Martin